Binding speech

I've been thinking lately about words-- specifically promises and vows, spoken commitments, and their decreasing power in our day. Throughout the Old Testament, an emphasis is placed on carrying out your commitments. The books of the Law strain over and over the weight of vows and the importance of honoring them, and Solomon affirms this in Ecclesiastes 5:5, saying, "It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it."

Even outside of the Bible, looking to history and literature up to the 18th and 19th centuries, a truly respectable person was a man of his word. If a person spoke a promise, he carried it out, regardless of changing circumstances or desires. At a cursory glance, this looks ridiculous. Should a person be unhappy and stay tied to a wrong decision made rashly? I would argue that such a mindset prevents rash and meaningless speech. As the spoken word has become less and less binding, we feel more and more free to speak whatever will get us the desired results in the moment, knowing we can back out later from whatever we commit to now.

I want to be a woman of my word. If I speak boldly of anything, I want it to be truthful and earnest. I don't want to be given to extreme statements and sensationalism, and I don't want to vow and break vows lightly. I want my yes to be yes and my no to be no and my promises to be worth something, made in light of careful consideration and prayer. And it makes sense that these are the people I want around me. In hard times, you turn to the friend whose word is his deed. I want to be that friend-- consistent, measured, and faithful.